MCAT Journey: Returned
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
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Juxx
325 Posts
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krndandaman
Mozambique16569 Posts
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intoyourrainbOW
United States168 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
On May 23 2011 04:25 intoyourrainbOW wrote: key to verbal? practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice. the first time i took the MCAT i got a 7 on the verbal. i was like wtf? i'm not retarded. i can read. second time i got a 12. so practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice. I'm doing around 5 passages/day would that be enough? | ||
peeeky
Canada631 Posts
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LoneWolf.Alpha
United States115 Posts
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xxSK8rGUy277xx
300 Posts
good luck on the MCAT! | ||
Pressure
7326 Posts
On May 23 2011 04:22 krndandaman wrote: same here... going for my last SAT. i raised my first score by 150 points. but the thing is, that was pretty much all math/reading improvement. math went up by 90 points, reading went up by 40, writing by only 20 and essay score went DOWN. if i just fix up my essay score which is horrendous compared to my other scores/multiple choice on writing, i should be able to get into most of the colleges i am looking at! so good luck and study hard to those others looking to improve their standardized test scores essay grades are mad arbitrary don't worry about it just make sure the overall writing grade is fine. the essay grade is supposed to be 30% of the grade or wahtever but it really didnt make that much of a difference for me | ||
Tim17
France39 Posts
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ItsYoungLee
Korea (South)227 Posts
I was in a similar situation to yours last year, applying to med schools and taking the MCAT the summer of (last August in fact!). Stay focused - you do have a lot of work ahead of you and a short amount of time, but from personal experience once you get that score, apply, and finally get your first acceptance, it'll all be worth it to know what you'll become a physician! GL GL! | ||
stack
Canada348 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
For science passages, I'm using the berkeley review series that I got over the online. (as well as for PS content review) For verbal, i'm using examkrackers 101 passages which I also got over the online. | ||
yourwhiteshadow
United States442 Posts
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yourwhiteshadow
United States442 Posts
On May 23 2011 05:17 LoneWolf.Alpha wrote: i don't understand how some people i know get such good gpa in college and don't do well on teh mcat. on the other hand, i did ok in college, but my mcat beats their's horribly. it's like some people receive the information but it doens't sink into their thought process or something. very strange. grade inflation. plenty of classes where there is: a)extra credit b)cheating c)"office hours" d)TA "office hours" college is almost a joke. its a good thing there is the MCAT, otherwise it'd be hard to differentiate between the 3.8 who is actually smart and the 3.8 who cheats or just works super hard. | ||
Jathin
United States3505 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
yea my personality in game is a lot different thanks @Jathin I used up all AAMC's except #11 last year, thinking about buying TBR 1-5 and AAMC #11 and do it last week of the prep =) | ||
Jathin
United States3505 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
On May 23 2011 05:40 xxSK8rGUy277xx wrote: I was worried that you had given up on starcraft. Glad to hear an update from you and hopefully you can start streaming again sometime soon =] good luck on the MCAT! I will make sure to stream RIGHT AFTER THE MCAT then i will go to at least 1 mlg this year! | ||
berkguyyy
United States151 Posts
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13th Marine
United States344 Posts
1. Structure your studying around goals, rather than time spent. It seems like you are already doing this by focusing on getting chapters done, but it's good to make sure. Structuring studying around time spent can be quite unproductive. Think of the difference of spending 5 hours doing 6 pools vs. spending 5 hours practicing macro, micro, and maneuvering. 2. Make sure you have some sort of feedback, along the way, for gauging your progress and and areas in need of further improvement. Hopefully your chapters have practice questions at the end. If not, it may be beneficial to consider taking one of those practice exams from that final week of studying a bit earlier to see how things are moving along. I personally found that improving weaknesses had a higher yield than improving strengths, given that the strengths were of a reasonable magnitude, and not just a "I think I know this" sorta deal. Sorta like how your league and ranking within a league can serve as an indicator of progress, ala Day[9] style. 3. Consider taking the day or half day before the MCAT off for rest and relaxation. I suppose it depends on your style, but personally I found it was helpful to have some time to gather my strength and stamina for the big day to avoid burn out. Of course, I refreshed some key facts with some of those laminated fact sheets the morning of the MCAT to enhance recall. MarineKingPrime likes to do this sorta thing before a big match and get a lot of sleep the day before, if I'm remembering this correctly. 4. Try and see if you can figure out the "type" of question you are being asked, and learn to do so efficiently. It'll help with all sections of the exam, in that it'll frame your mindset in the right way for dealing with the task presented to you with each question, e.g., find a fact in a verbal passage vs. identify an overarching theme. It's sort of like scouting the front of an opponent's base. Based on what you see (or don't see) you can react and adjust accordingly. Of course, this is just what worked (luckily for me, excellently) in my case. Depending on your learning style and performance style, these suggestions may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps, and good luck! | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
On May 25 2011 14:51 berkguyyy wrote: Good luck on the MCAT. I took it 3 years ago and if I have one tip (although the exam may have changed) it's to not memorize every single detail because most of the answers will be in the passages. As this is the second time you're taking the exam I'd recommend you take it only if your practice scores are showing good results cause you really don't want to leave it up to chance. I'm preparing for the Step 1 right now and all I can say is you'll look back on the days of MCAT and realize it really wasn't so bad after all... I was at Barnes and Nobles for studying and then I checked what USMLE is like. Surely, MCAT is to USMLE as SAT is to MCAT. I'm motivated because it's way easier and I can do it! | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
On May 25 2011 15:32 13th Marine wrote: I took the first iteration of the new MCAT 2 years ago, and my suggestions for you would be: 1. Structure your studying around goals, rather than time spent. It seems like you are already doing this by focusing on getting chapters done, but it's good to make sure. Structuring studying around time spent can be quite unproductive. Think of the difference of spending 5 hours doing 6 pools vs. spending 5 hours practicing macro, micro, and maneuvering. 2. Make sure you have some sort of feedback, along the way, for gauging your progress and and areas in need of further improvement. Hopefully your chapters have practice questions at the end. If not, it may be beneficial to consider taking one of those practice exams from that final week of studying a bit earlier to see how things are moving along. I personally found that improving weaknesses had a higher yield than improving strengths, given that the strengths were of a reasonable magnitude, and not just a "I think I know this" sorta deal. Sorta like how your league and ranking within a league can serve as an indicator of progress, ala Day[9] style. 3. Consider taking the day or half day before the MCAT off for rest and relaxation. I suppose it depends on your style, but personally I found it was helpful to have some time to gather my strength and stamina for the big day to avoid burn out. Of course, I refreshed some key facts with some of those laminated fact sheets the morning of the MCAT to enhance recall. MarineKingPrime likes to do this sorta thing before a big match and get a lot of sleep the day before, if I'm remembering this correctly. 4. Try and see if you can figure out the "type" of question you are being asked, and learn to do so efficiently. It'll help with all sections of the exam, in that it'll frame your mindset in the right way for dealing with the task presented to you with each question, e.g., find a fact in a verbal passage vs. identify an overarching theme. It's sort of like scouting the front of an opponent's base. Based on what you see (or don't see) you can react and adjust accordingly. Of course, this is just what worked (luckily for me, excellently) in my case. Depending on your learning style and performance style, these suggestions may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps, and good luck! Thanks for da tips ^_^ | ||
binski
United States225 Posts
Hope to see you at MLG Anaheim : ) | ||
ZeaL.
United States5955 Posts
On May 25 2011 14:51 berkguyyy wrote: I'm preparing for the Step 1 right now and all I can say is you'll look back on the days of MCAT and realize it really wasn't so bad after all... Depending on how your school does it, step 2 might be even worse than step 1 =/. I don't envy you guys in med school. | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
On June 02 2011 04:40 ZeaL. wrote: GL man. If you can just raise your score by 5 points or so you're in contention for top 20 med school with a good essay to back you up. BTW, I'd start worrying about your essay right after you take your test as its just as if not more important than your MCAT. I've seen a few 35-38's rejected from top schools because they couldn't write a good essay, in addition I saw a girl get owned last year because she submitted her primary in late august. She did get into a med school but might have done better had she submitted earlier. Since you're taking your test so late you better bust your ass right after you finish your test because every day you don't submit is a day every other med school applicant gets exposure to the admissions comittee. Depending on how your school does it, step 2 might be even worse than step 1 =/. I don't envy you guys in med school. thank you sir i'll make sure to work on the PS right away. | ||
WardenSC
Canada210 Posts
GOOD LUCK IN MCAT and HOPE TO SEE YOU BACK in SC2!! Also come check out my stream when you get a chance <3 | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
On June 04 2011 16:56 WardenSC wrote: wow lith u were alive after all!! GOOD LUCK IN MCAT and HOPE TO SEE YOU BACK in SC2!! Also come check out my stream when you get a chance <3 i will try to check it out when I am free miss you and binski <3 make sure you teach me the latest strategies when I get back, which is in less than 2 weeks | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
Let's go | ||
Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
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quiong
United States268 Posts
My final score was very good, but lopsided (physical sciences > verbal >> biological). As long as you have a good composite score, you can ensure that most schools will not filter out your app right away. I was worried about it a the time but it never came up on interviews or anything. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. | ||
Specialist
United States803 Posts
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pebblebeach
35 Posts
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ShoeFactory
United States186 Posts
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Specialist
United States803 Posts
On October 12 2011 10:50 pebblebeach wrote: Not bad, are you applying for this cycle? ya i am... even though it's really late | ||
ItsYoungLee
Korea (South)227 Posts
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